This invention relates to a wind-driven machine of the type that may be utilized to harness the power of the wind and convert the kinetic energy posessed by a moving air mass into another form of energy which conveniently might be electrical energy.
With the world's supply of fossil fuels being limited and the availability of such fuels becoming increasingly restricted, more and more interest has been directed to the use of non-depletable energy sources to provide sources of power. The power of the wind constitutes a significant part of available non-depletably sources.
Various types of wind-propelled devices have been proposed in the past. These have included wind mills, various types of paddle constructions, and propeller type devices. While many of such units have operated satisfactorily under ordinary wind conditions, wind propulsion devices known to date have been characterized by a number of disadvantages. Some devices for instance, while operating satisfactorily under moderate wind conditions, are not able to withstand winds at high velocity. Devices which are moderately efficient at winds of a certain level, may have efficiencies which drop off sharply at velocities below or above that level. To produce optimum results, wind driven devices should be rapidly responsive to changes in wind direction and velocity, characteristics not commonly shared by prior art devices. With propeller type devices, noise can be a major problem, particularly at high wind velocities. Optimumly, and with electrical generating wind-driven devices, such devices should be sensitive to load requirements and RPM limitations.
A general object of this invention is to provide a unique wind-driven machine featuring adjustable vanes or shell segments in an impeller which are readily adjusted in response to changes in wind direction, wind velocity, load, etc. to produce optimum turning movement in the impeller in response to the wind driving force.
Another object is to provide a wind-driven machine featuring adjustable shell segments or vanes shaped in such a manner as to produce highly efficient conversion of the kinetic energy of the wind to rotary motion producing power.
The wind-driven machine of the invention is highly flexible in operation and effective to harness the power of the wind whether such is moving at low or high velocities. The machine is rapidly responsive to changes in wind direction and wind velocity.
The apparatus contemplated, in a preferred embodiment of the invention, features multiple, elongate curved shell segments or vanes pivotally mounted on a central upstanding support, which may be adjusted under high velocity wind conditions to occupy a closed position where the segments form a hollow shell surrounding the support of elongate ovate configuration. In such a condition of adjustment, the exposed parts of the machine offer minimal resistance to the passage of wind therearound, and thus the machine is capable of withstanding extremely high wind velocities without destruction. From such closed positions, the vanes or shell segments may be adjusted to various degrees of openness, to provide an effective instrumentality for capturing the wind to provide rotary motion in the device. The design of the impeller portion of the machine, taking the form as it does of an elongate slim instrumentality projecting up into the air, is such that a multiplicity of the units may be mounted relatively closely adjacency in a confined space, without operation of the various units interfering with each other.